Now that he was back at Hogwarts, Tver was in no hurry to get back to work. For the first time in ages, he returned to his office and took a full night to rest.
What he had not expected was that the moment he appeared in the Great Hall the next day, he would set off an uproar among the students.
The reason was simple. The three little loudmouths...
The second they got back to the common room, they could not wait to spread the news that Tver had returned to the school.
After suffering through Umbridge's tedious lessons and Karkaroff's strange teaching methods, the students' anticipation for him had reached its peak.
In the past, no matter how odd the professors they ran into were, at least Tver had guaranteed the quality of teaching and always brought them plenty of fun classroom games.
But now the games were gone, and as for actual teaching, only Karkaroff's jinxes could barely be called decent.
They might not have known the saying about how it is easy to go from hardship to comfort and hard to go back again, but the feeling was exactly the same.
If Tver had not hidden his whereabouts, the owls carrying letters to him probably could have filled the whole of Fawley Manor.
So when Tver stepped into the Great Hall early in the morning, even though it was a Sunday, he was still instantly surrounded by students who had gotten the news in advance.
"Professor, have you come back to replace Umbridge?"
"As long as you're back, we can put up with Professor Karkaroff as the other professor... and if we really have to, we can even endure Umbridge!"
"Professor, did you enjoy your holiday? Where did you go? Did anything happen you'd be willing to share with us? Most importantly, what fun things have you prepared for tomorrow's class?"
"?"
Tver looked in surprise at the last girl to speak. He had not expected such an adorable smile to hide such deep scheming.
The first-years, meanwhile, did not really understand why everyone was so excited. Even after listening to the impatient explanations of several older students, they still scratched their heads in confusion.
"It's just a professor. What's there to get excited abou... %@&!"
"Hey, hey, no fighting. Oh, wait, it's a group beating? That's not allowed either!"
Tver quickly gestured for everyone to calm down and let their enthusiasm cool.
"I'm very grateful for your... affection, but I have to tell you, regretfully, that after I finish breakfast, I'll be leaving Hogwarts again to carry out other work."
"Leaving?!" The students immediately cried out in alarm.
"You're leaving Hogwarts?! But Headmaster Dumbledore said you would always be a professor here. That would never change!"
"...That is a pretty clear violation of labor law," Tver said with a complicated expression.
Was he touched? A little, yes. But the way Dumbledore had said it with such certainty really made it hard for him to feel happy about it.
"Of course, I'm still a professor here. I just need to stay busy for a while longer before I can come back to teach."
Suddenly, a shrill, sickly-sweet voice rang out behind him.
"Ahem. I was wondering whether Professor Fawley could explain where he has been all this time?"
The students around him all shuddered in disgust at once, their eyes practically rolling into the backs of their heads.
Tver turned around, and a bloodless, baggy-eyed, toad-like round face with a huge mouth appeared right in front of him.
The sight was so alarming that he actually took a step back.
And in that step back, he also got a good look at her figure and clothes...
She was short and squat, with short, curly mouse-brown hair and an absurdly large pink bow on top of it.
Yes, Tver sincerely wished he had not looked.
Ron calling her a pink toad the night before had practically been an insult to toads.
Sensing the appraisal in Tver's gaze, Umbridge smugly tilted up her chin.
Of course, that was also because the height difference between her and Tver was simply too great.
"Dolores Umbridge. Head of the Department of Magical Education, and Hogwarts High Inquisitor."
Although she had lost her position as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, the title of Head of the Department of Magical Education actually made it easier for her to interfere in Hogwarts affairs.
In Umbridge's eyes, it was obvious that in her deal with Barty Crouch, she had been the one who profited more.
So the moment she heard that Tver had appeared at Hogwarts, she threw Fudge's warning not to provoke him straight out of her mind and hurried over, eager to flaunt her authority.
"I've long heard of you," Tver said first, offering a polite compliment, though the crooked smile at the corner of his mouth immediately made the students sense that something good was coming.
"The students have already told me a few things about you. What surprised me is that Hogwarts has gone through so many unreliable Defence Against the Dark Arts professors over the years, yet even put together, they still haven't had as much impact as your less than half a year of teaching."
Pfft.
The students could not help snickering. Then, seeing Tver block Umbridge's angry glare for them, they laughed even harder.
At that point, even the first-years who had just been beaten up understood why the older students had been so excited.
The other professors mostly ignored Umbridge, but Professor Fawley was the only one bold enough to mock her so directly.
"You!"
Relying on the authority given to her by the Ministry, Umbridge had been swaggering all over Hogwarts lately. Even Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had to give way to her, at least in her own mind.
"Tver Fawley, I must inform you that I have the authority to judge whether Hogwarts professors are competent, and I also have the authority to throw incompetent professors out of Hogwarts!"
Tver himself had no reaction to Umbridge's threat, but the students immediately burst into outraged shouting.
"You old hag. Professor Fawley is a hundred times more competent than you!"
"If Professor gets thrown out of Hogwarts, we'll toss you into the Forbidden Forest!"
...
Umbridge haughtily swept her gaze over the cursing students, the smugness in her eyes only growing stronger.
"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, for insulting a professor, you will each receive three months of detention, starting tonight," she said in an absurdly affected little-girl voice, casting a threatening glance at the few who had shouted the loudest.
"Is there anyone else who wants to..."
"But there are a few things I also need to tell Professor Umbridge..." Tver suddenly cut in, interrupting her display of authority. "Your authority comes from the Ministry of Magic, and it is limited to the Ministry of Magic."
Umbridge immediately turned her smile back toward Tver in open challenge.
"Minister Fudge has always supported my work. He is quite pleased to see me correcting Hogwarts's educational disorder and ensuring that the children receive better, more proper education, hehe."
"Are you sure?"
Still smiling, Tver bent down and, suppressing his disgust, murmured into her ear, "If Fudge values you so highly, why did he sell you out so neatly in the first place?"
"That was a deal!" Umbridge hissed through gritted teeth.
No matter how much she tried to comfort herself, she could not deny that back then her position had been weakened and she had nearly become the laughingstock of the Ministry.
"Yes. And you were only the bargaining chip in that deal," Tver said softly.
"If you don't want to become a bargaining chip again, then keep a lower profile. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind dangling something in front of Fudge again and getting you transferred to an even quieter department."
Umbridge's eyes practically shot fire, but for a long moment she could not think of a single thing to say in reply.
"I... I'll get hold of your dirt one day!"
In the end, she could only throw out a threat, angrily shove her way through the students surrounding them, and stomp off.
"Professor Umbridge, what about our detention..." George shouted after her.
"I have no time to indulge your nonsense!"
"Woohoo!"
Seeing Umbridge suffer her first real humiliation at Hogwarts, the students immediately crowded around Tver and erupted into excited cheers.